UN electoral experts team arrives in Venezuela

The United Nations Electoral Expert Team arrived in Venezuela at the invitation of the National Electoral Council and in accordance with the Barbados Agreement signed on 17 October 2023. The UN team will prepare an internal report for the Secretary-General on the development of the country’s presidential elections in July 2024. The report of the Committee will include recommendations on improvements that could be made to future electoral processes in Venezuela.

The Commission is composed of four experts, two women and two men, with extensive experience in electoral technical fields. The Commission will remain in the country until a few days after the elections. Its members will have full freedom to meet with political and social actors, as well as with electoral authorities and experts.

An electoral panel of experts is one of several types of electoral assistance that the United Nations can provide at the request of Member States. Unlike UN election observation missions, which require a specific mandate from the Security Council or General Assembly and are very rare, electoral panels of experts do not issue public statements assessing the overall conduct of the electoral process or its results. Without a legislative mandate, the United Nations cannot publicly observe or assess electoral processes in a Member State, and therefore the panel of experts will not issue public statements.

press release